Sabiqun and Anti-Semitism on Campus Introduction The two principal leaders of Sabiqun, an anti-Semitic Muslim group that advocates for the creation of a global Islamic state, have become popular speakers on college and university campuses over the past several years. Sabiqun founder, Imam Abdul Alim Musa, who heads a mosque in Washington, DC, and Imam Abdul Malik Ali, leader of a mosque in Oakland, California, ahve used their appearances on campus to promote hostility toward Israel and AMerican Jews. For example, during a speech at UC Irvine in May 2010, Malik Ali compared Jews to Nazis, expressed support for Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad and called for the destruction of the "apartheid state of Israel." While Sabiqun appears to have a relatively small following organized primarily around two mosques in DC and Oakland, its leaders continue to be provided with a platform to spread their anti- SEmitic and conspiratorial themes by student groups and others. Sabiqun Sabiqun is an anti-Semitic Muslim group that advocates for the creation of a global Islamic state that would abolish all "man-made" forms of governance. Arabic for "vanguard," Sabiqun was founded by Imam Abdul Alim Musa, the head of the Masjid Al Islam mosque in Washington DC. While Sabiqun claims to have a national presence with centers in several cities, including in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, it appears to have a relatively small 1 / 17 following organized primarily around two mosques; Alim Musa's DC mosque and the Masjid Al Islam mosque in Oakland, California, which is led by the movement's other main figure, Imam Amir Abdul Malik Ali. The mosques are located in poor neighborhoods and claim to provide social services to the communities. Sabiqun plans to open a school "at each location where a branch of the movement is established," according to the group's Web site. Near its Oakland mosque, Sabiqun operates the Masjid Al Islam School (pre-K to 8th grade). The school's blog has pictures of students protesting Israel's military operation in Gaza. A January 2009 post to the blog states: "we are very proud of our young students in taking a stand and making their voices heard." The Sabiqun Oakland and DC centers also operate as the "Islamic Institute for Counter Zionist American Psychological Warfare." The institute was established to "monitor Zionist and Israeli networks, circles, and clubs which deceitfully infiltrate Muslim and Black groups," according to a June 2010 Sabiqun newsletter. In a January 2011 statement announcing the opening of the Oakland branch, Sabiqun also declared that one of the institute's goals is to "Analyze the Zionist grip on humanity established via the media and economics." The planned institute, which will operate out of its DC mosque, will house a College of Islamic Movement Studies, offering courses in Arabic, Islamic theology, law and history; a Department of Strategic and Islamic Studies; and a physical fitness program. Sabiqun claims that it was created in the early 1990s at Masjid Al Islam mosque in Philadelphia. On July 4, 1995, it published a document called "Resolution of Philadelphia," which declared the group's "independence from man-made concepts." The document, created as a challenge to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, resolved to work toward establishing a self sufficient Muslim community that will work with other Muslims "for the purpose of reestablishing the system of governance known as Khilafah, or the Caliphate." 2 / 17 Sabiqun predicts that Islamic rule will be established in the U.S., which it calls "the Islamic State of North America," by "no later than 2050." Speaking in 2000 at a gathering organized by JamaatJamaatJamaatJamaat al-Muslim al-Muslimal-Muslimal-Muslimeeneeneeneen in Baltimore, Alim Musa said: "Islam went everywhere in the [ancient] world…so why can't Islam take over America…We are on the right road." An article published in the Sabiqun newsletter in March 2002 claimed that there is "open warfare" between Muslims and the U.S., which it described as "the united forces of kufr [non-believers]…the criminal constitutional dictatorship of the USA." Sabiqun advocates for a "revolution," which it describes as "absolute change rooted in Allah's guidance." The first issues of the Sabiqun newsletter included a section called "Things to do now," in which it listed the following: "Always cherish the intention of jihad and the desire for martyrdom in the way of Allah and actually prepare yourself for that." Sabiqun traces its ideological roots to 20th century Islamic revivalism, including the radical Muslim Brotherhood and Ayatollah Khomeini. The group also considers Malcolm X as a major influence. Sabiqun openly supports Iran and Hezbollah and has links to the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT), an international pro-Iranian, pro-Hezbollah think tank that distributes anti-Semitic propaganda in its magazine, Crescent International. Alim Musa is a "senior" member of the ICIT, and "issues of Crescent International serve as regular monthly reading for most Sabiqun members," according to the Sabiqun Web site. Sabiqun's leaders are not secluded from the mainstream Muslim and Arab communities in the U.S. In fact, Alim Musa and Malik Ali have participated at events organized by Muslim-American organizations such as the CounCounCounCouncilcilcilcil on ononon AmAmAmAmerican-Islamicerican-Islamicerican-Islamicerican-Islamic Relations RelationsRelationsRelations, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, MuslimMuslimMuslimMuslim AmAmAmAmericanericanericanerican Society SocietySocietySociety, Islamic Circle of North America and the Islamic Society of North America. They have also spoken at large community mosques around the 3 / 17 country. But Alim Musa and Malik Ali are particularly popular with Muslim student groups, in particular the MuslimMuslimMuslimMuslim Student StudentStudentStudent Union UnionUnionUnion at the University of California, Irvine. Imam Abdul Alim Musa Imam Abdul Alim Musa, an African-American convert to Islam, is the head of the Masjid Al Islam mosque in Washington DC and founder of Sabiqun. He advocates for an Islamic revolution in the U.S. and promotes anti-Semitism. Despite his extremist views, Alim Musa is often invited to speak to Muslim student groups, in particular at events organized by the MuslimMuslimMuslimMuslim Student StudentStudentStudent Union UnionUnionUnion (MSU)(MSU)(MSU)(MSU) at the University of California, Irvine. These events often feature a handful of radical speakers who espouse anti-Semitic rhetoric, including Imam MoMoMoMohammadhammadhammadhammad al-Asi al-Asial-Asial-Asi and ImamImamImamImam Amir AmirAmirAmir Abdul AbdulAbdulAbdul Malik MalikMalikMalik Ali AliAliAli. Though he claims that some of the major Muslim organizations try to avoid him because of his ideology, Alim Musa has participated at events organized by prominent Muslim-American community organizations including the CounCounCounCouncilcilcilcil on ononon AmAmAmAmerican-Islamicerican-Islamicerican-Islamicerican-Islamic Relations RelationsRelationsRelations, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, MuslimMuslimMuslimMuslim AmAmAmAmericanericanericanerican Society SocietySocietySociety, IslamicIslamicIslamicIslamic Cir CirCirCirclecleclecle of ofofof Nor NorNorNorthththth Am AmAmAmericaericaericaerica and the Islamic Society of North America. He also makes regular appearances at the large annual conferences of the Muslim Congress, a Houston-based Shia community group. At some of these events, Alim Musa has sold copies of an anti-Semitic book written by Imam Mohammad al-Asi. The book, The Ascendant Qur'an, blames Jews for conspiring against Islam. Alim Musa has also spoken at mass antiwar rallies, including one of the largest pro-Palestinian rallies ever held in this country, which was organized by the ANSWERANSWERANSWERANSWER Coalition CoalitionCoalitionCoalition on April 20, 2002 in Washington, DC. Musa served as moderator. 4 / 17 Alim Musa also traveled to Tehran to participate in the Islamic Awakening conference devoted to examining the Arab Spring hosted by the Iranian government in September 2011. In an interview at the conference with the Iranian Nasr TV, Alim Musa said, "As these new uprisings take place, the West will come out to crush them or to take control like in Egypt." When asked about his thoughts on religion being largely absent as a driving force in the Arab Spring, Musa remarked that it is a Western conspiracy to "wipe Islam off the map." In addition, Alim Musa is a founder and former member of the governing body of the Muslim Alliance in North America, a community organization that involves prominent American-born Muslims, mostly African-Americans. In 2004, the San Francisco Bay View described Alim Musa as "one of the highest-ranking Islamic leaders in the Black community, nationwide and specifically in the Islamic movement." Born Clarence Reams in Arkansas, Alim Musa grew up in Oakland, California. According to his own account, as a young man in the 1960s in Oakland he was dealing with illegal drugs and later fled the country. He claims to have spent time in Algeria where he met fugitive activists in the Black Panther movement and to have also been involved in cocaine trade in Columbia. Alim Musa returned to the U.S. and was jailed in a federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he converted to Islam, based on his account. Alim Musa is a "senior" member of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought (ICIT), an international pro-Iranian, pro-Hezbollah Islamist think tank that